Filling in the “Foundation” Series–The Second Foundation Trilogy




Second Foundation Trilogy
In a recent podcast guest Bill Walko commented he was looking for people interested in taking his characters and incorporating them into their own writing, a mindset unusual enough that it generated considerable discussion. That comment reminded me of a similar successful effort related to one of the all time great science fiction group of stories, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. His estate commissioned three novels, collectively know as the Second Foundation Trilogy, after his death to add depth to the story flow: Foundation’s Fear by Gregory Benford, Foundation and Chaos by Greg Bear, and Foundation’s Triumph by David Brin.
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Synchronicity is a Bitch




Inception The TV Series Starring Dane Cook and Jennifer Aniston (Graphic by Photoshop)

How does one explain the current state of programming among the television networks? Is it an issue with current quality of programming? Yes. Is it an issue with pandering to a sub-genre they know little about? Yes. Is it money hunger and pandering to the lowest common denominator? Of course, but I am coming to the conclusion that there is more to this ill conceived plan than meets the eye.

EXAMPLE 1 – THE WALKING DEAD. AMC takes it’s one of its highest rated shows, The Walking Dead, showcases it at ComiCon, Parades the cast and show-runner from panel to panel for the three day event, then summarily fires the show-runner and slashed the budget in half. Frank Darabont was truly a dead man walking and never knew it. Cast and crew were stunned and were given the cryptic explanation “This isn’t working”. Seems to me it was working just fine, great show, interesting cast, explosive concept, and deviously crafted. Yeah, it wasn’t working, was it? Read More »

TalkCast 96 – The Sky Pirates of Valendor




 

 

Our guests tonight are Susan & Everett Soares, to talk about the Sky Pirates of Valendor comics, and Joy and Alexander Tambascia of MECHA Software, LLC. announce their new Sky Pirates Facebook video game. They will be at the Great New England Steampunk Exhibition on Sept 16-18th in Fitchburg Mass. and we’ll be there too!

 

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Fiction Friday – Philip K Dick




Philip K. Dick was known as a dystopian writer. Born in 1928, his life was as dystopian as his stories. Many of his finest works have been converted to movies, among them Bladerunner and Minority Report. What most people don’t know is that he wrote many short stories.

 His writing style in these short stories varied significantly from his novels. Many stories were a drawn out thought, never fully realized; an essence or tone poem. “The Skull” is one such example. In this short story, a man is given his chance at redemption, however the cost of this is the Devil’s dilemma.  Join him on his journey into darkness:

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Movies I Wish You Had Seen – Earth Girls Are Easy




It’s a hot Saturday night and you are in the mood for mindless entertainment. You could  go for a Jim Carey movie. You could go for one of the early Geena Davis/Jeff Goldblum  rom-coms. A Wayans Brothers slapstick might fill the bill. What the hell,mix all of the above with musical number or two and Downtown Julie Brown, set it in The Valley and make it Sci-Fi, and you have Earth Girls Are Easy.

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TalkCast 95 – Kill Shakespeare




Anthony Del Col from Kill Shakespeare

In our second half, our guest is Anthony Del Col, Co-Creator of Kill Shakespeare. We met him at Boston Comic Con. He talks about the process of writing this series and the 9 year evolution of this project.

In the third half of our show, we discuss the NPR list of “Top 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy  Books“.

 

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Fiction Friday – Edgar Rice Burroughs




Fiction Friday

 

With the upcoming John Carter of Mars movie, I have been hearkening back to my formative days of voraciously devouring sci fi when I was a whelp. I recall going to a used bookstore in Manhattan with my father and uncle and having them both tell me all about Barsoom, Pellucidar, The Land That Time Forgot and The Lost Continent.

It wasn’t till I was much older that I understood the position Edgar Rice Burroughs  held in the company of authors; and the multitude of books, series and articles he wrote in his lifetime. Even the incredibly accurate Wikipedia lists ERB under 6 different writing categories. Prolific doesn’t begin to describe his work. The city of Tarzana in California is named after…umm..guess who? He built and maintained a ranch there, which eventually became the city. He is also one of the very few to have a crater on Mars named after him.

For your enjoyment, and in honor of ERB, and complements of Project Gutenberg, Here is the beginning of Thuvia, Maid of Mars. Read More »

Fiction Friday – Walter Tevis: The Big Bounce




 

Walter Tevis

If you know about Walter Tevis, it may be from The Man Who Fell to Earth. To be honest, I wouldn’t have even have known that if I hadn’t seen the movie, which is brilliantly flawed. This movie was my introduction to Tevis and the dazzling mind that produced some wonderful science fiction. A man who wrote in multiple genres, it wasn’t till much later that I realized that he also wrote The Hustler and The Color Of Money.

In his science fiction Tevis wrote about many subjects, the fall of cities, alien invasion, technology run amok but what I would like to give to you today is a short story called “The Big Bounce”. In this story, a professor, thru serendipitous research discovers a substance with amazing properties. The story sheds light on the art of scientific inquiry and how one handles unintended consequences.

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Super Women




Longtime readers and listeners will know that we here at SFSN love to see women involved in geeky things. This is partially because many of us *are* women involved in geeky things. That’s why we’re very excited to tell you about the Womanthology Kickstarter project:

The purpose of the book is to show support for female creators in comics and media. There will be multiple short stories, “how to”s & interviews with professionals, and features showcasing iconic female comic creators that have passed, such as Nell Brinkley and Tarpe Mills. A Kids & Teens section will also be included, showcasing their work, and offering tips & tricks to help them prepare themselves for their future careers in comics. Overall, this is pretty much a huge book showcasing what women in comics have accomplished, and what we are capable of 🙂 We are also hoping that by doing this book, it will encourage a new generation of women to pick up the pencil and create!

Part of what’s special about Womanthology is its equal opportunity aspects. Big- name professionals like Gail Simone are paired up with new and upcoming talent to promote opportunity and chances for those newcomers to learn, and give them a stage to show what they can do. For instance, Gail will be paired up with extraordinary new artist Jean Kang! Or for, another example, legendary artist Camilla d’Errico will be paired up with up and coming writer Raven Moore! Check out the Womanthology site for more exciting team ups!

This project is huge in scope and the rewards for Kickstarter backers are pee-your-pants exciting. We’re going to have some representatives from the project on the podcast some yet-to-be-determined time in the future, but the Kickstarter project ends on August 7, so we wanted to give you a chance to get your pledge in before it’s too late!

TalkCast 94 – Sex and The Single Superhero




Super Knocked Up

Our guests tonight are Jeff Burns, Writer and Director and Mark Pezzula, Star of Super Knocked Up: a new  action/comedy Web Series about a Super-Villain who gets “knocked up” by a Super Hero.

 

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